Sachusetts



(No Model.) 0. A. SHAW &- W. R. CHASE.

I LAST. No. 375,575 Patented Dec. 27 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

' CHARLES A. SHAW, or BOSTON, AND WILLIAM R. oHASE, OF LYNN, MAS- SAoHUSETrs, AssIeNo S, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE oHASE LAST ooMPANY, E PORTLAND, MAINE.

LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent'No. 375,575, dated December 27, 1887.

Application filed September 24, 1887. Serial No. 250,589. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, OHARLEs A. SHAW, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, and WILLIAM R. CHASE, of Lynn, in

the county of Essex, State of Massachusetts,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Boot and Shoe Lasts,of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the IQ art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawingspforming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of I5 a last provided with our improvement; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the upper portion of the last, and showing a modification of the improvement.

Like letters ofreference indicate correspond zoing parts in the different figures of the drawings.

Our invention is designed more especially as an improvementon the last shown and described in Letters Patent No. 367,091, dated July 26, 1887, although well adapted for use with any last having a block. In said patented last the block B (see Fig.1 of the drawings) is attached to the body A by a cord, D, which is inserted in a hole, f, and groove 2,

formed in said block, one end of said cord being secured to the rear portion of the body, as shown at 'z and the other provided with a knot, as shown at Z; but in using said last for certain classes of boots and shoes it has been 5 found that the block is liable to become misplaced or to slip backward, and also to swing sidewise on its seat and thereby produce imperfect work.

To overcome this objection is the object of 0 the present improvement, and to that end we make use of means which will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the following explanation.

. In the drawings, A represents the body, B

.5 the block, and D the cord by which the block and body are connected, these parts being all constructed and arranged as shown in said patent, excepting as hereinafter. described, and not broadly claimed herein. To prevent the block from slipping upward or swinging Q jection being easily withdrawn from the recess 5 5 by slightly raising the rear end of the block, thereby enabling the block to be withdrawn from the boot or shoe in advance of the body.

It will be obvious that our invention may be carried out or put in practice in a great variety of ways; but that shown in the present instance has been found to be very simple, cheap, and efi'ective. A screw, as, (see Fig. 1,) is inserted in the rear portion of the body A, near the centerof the block-seat, the head of said screw being hemispherical in form and left projecting above the plane of said seat.

A recess or indentation, m, is formed in such a position on the lower side of the block B that when said block is properly seated on the body A the head of the screw m will be inserted in said recess. I

In the use of our improvement, when the last'is inserted in the boot or shoe and the upper drawn taut over the block B, it will be 7 5 obvious that the block will be kept engaged with the head of the screw, and thereby prevented from being accidentally displaced on its seat; also, that by taking hold of the knot Z on the cord D and raising the rear or upper end of the block until the block and screw are disengaged the block may be readily withdrawn from the shoe by meansof said cord, the leather of the upper yielding sufficiently to permit the disengagement of the block and screw without first unbuttoning or unlacing the boot or shoe or relieving the strain of the upper on the block.

.The lower end, k, of the block is V-shaped, or approximately so, and is inserted in a V- 0 shaped socket formed in the body of the last in the usual manner, and when the block swings laterally on its seat its center of mo tion is at or near said socket. The V-shaped end k of the block and V-shaped socket in which it is inserted serve to center the lower portion of the block and keep it in proper position with respect to the body A;

but it is equally essential to the performance of good work that the upper portion of the block should be kept in proper position or its sides flush with the sides of the body when the last is in the boot or shoe. It is therefore important that the head of the screw a; and the recess or indentation m should register perfectly when the block is in proper position on its seat or when its sides are flush with the sides of the body.

We sometimes insert the screw x in the block B and form the recess min the body A, as shown in Fig. 2, the result being substantially the same in either case. In the present instance the head of the screw as constitutes the proj ection hereinbefore referred to.

If desired, the recess m may be lined or re enforced with metal to prevent the block or body, as the case may be, from wearing out at that point.

The screw affords a cheap and ready means of providing the last with the requisite projection, and its hemispherical head enables it to be easily inserted in the recess in seating the block. It will be obvious, however, that a projection of any other suitable kind may be employed with substantially the same results.

The screw as and recess m constitute a lock which,in conjunction with the V-shaped point It and socket for said point, keep the block in proper position on its seat when the last is in the boot or shoe.

The longitudinally-arranged groove 2 in the interior of the last may be formed in either the block or body, or partially in each, if desired, although it is deemed preferable to form it in the block, as shown.

Instead of the knot Z, a clip or collet may be secured to the outer end of the cord D, to prevent it from being withdrawn from the block, if desired; and instead of the screw as an unthreaded pin, either with or without a head, may be employed, the upper end of the pin of course projecting above the plane of the block seat or below the lower side of the block, as the case may be, when the pin is in position for use.

- Having thus explained our invention, what we claim is 1. In a last having a longitudinal groovein its interior for the block-cord, the combination, with the last-body provided with a block-seat, and with a V-shaped socket at the lower end of said seat, of a block having a V-shapcd end for fitting said socket, and provided with a longitudinal cord-hole, a cord disposed in said hole and groove and connecting said block and body, and a block-lock, substantially as described.

2. In a last, the combination of the body A, block B, cord D, screw m, and recess m, constructed and arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands, this 19th day of September, A. D. 1887, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES A. SHA\V. WILLIAM R. CHASE. Witnesses:

ELEANOR SPINNEY, 0. M. SHAW. 

